Rafik Hariri

Shawn Baldwin for The New York Times

News about Rafik Hariri, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Apr. 17, 2015

Trial of Lebanese journalist Karma al-Khayat begins in Hague; Khayat is charged with obstruction of justice and contempt of court for publishing confidential information from international investigation into 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prim Min Rafik Hariri. MORE

Feb. 15, 2015

Special Tribunal for Lebanon in The Hague, established by United Nations in order to try case involving assassination of former Lebanese Prime Min Rafik Hariri, faces challenge of showing that delivery of true justice is possible; tribunal is trying five members of Hezbollah in absentia due to reluctance on part of Lebanese authorities to arrest them. MORE

May. 14, 2014

Karma al-Khayat, vice chairwoman of Al Jadeed TV, is summoned to appear at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on the outskirts of The Hague to answer charges of contempt of court and obstruction of justice relating to the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Min Rafik Hariri; indictment accuses Khayat and the parent company of Al Jadeed, New TV, of being criminally accountable for broadcasts that involved contacting possible court witnesses and disclosing confidential information about them in 2012. MORE

Apr. 25, 2014

International tribunal investigating the killing of former Lebanese Prime Min Rafik Hariri charges two leading Lebanese journalists--Ibrahim al-Amin and Karma al-Khayat--with contempt of court and obstruction of justice over publication of confidential information about possible witnesses for the prosecution; tribunal has charged five Hezbollah members in car bombing that killed Hariri, based on elaborate reconstruction of telephone records. MORE

Jan. 17, 2014

International tribunal opens hearings into 2005 killing of Lebanese Prime Min Rafik Hariri by truck bomb; absent from trial are the four men accused of the killing who have been shielded from arrest and prosecution by Hezbollah. MORE

Jan. 15, 2014

United Nations Memo; trial to investigate 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Min Rafik Hariri has become another friction point in sectarian conflict spilling over into country from Syria; Hezbollah, Shiite group that supports Syrian Pres Bashar al-Assad, has been implicated in Hariri's murder, casting doubts on group's claims of being Lebanon's defender. MORE

Dec. 30, 2013

Beirut Journal; barely 1,000 people attend funeral of Mohamad B Chatah, former Lebanese finance minister and prominent critic of Syrian government, in Beirut; relatively small gathering stands in stark contrast to the hundreds of thousands who attended the funeral of Rafik Hariri, former prime minister whose assassination in 2005 helped build a mass movement that pushed the Syrian Army out of Lebanon. MORE

Oct. 11, 2013

International court indicts Hassan Habib Merhi as fifth suspect in 2005 killing in Beirut of Rafik Hariri, former Lebanon prime minister; prosecutors say Merhi is a member of Hezbollah. MORE

Apr. 14, 2013

Hackers break into Web site of Lebanese newspaper Al Mustaqbal, posting names, photos and personal data of so-called secret witnesses for trial in killing of former Prime Min Rafik Hariri; direct visitors to site called Journalists for the Truth, which is traced to registry in Netherlands; tribunal denounces hacking operation, saying it endangers lives of Lebanese citizens and that list does not accurately reflect official court records. MORE

Mar. 10, 2013

Al Akhbar, Lebanese newspaper, publishes the names of likely witnesses in the murder trial of Rafik Hariri, former prime minister who was assassinated in 2005; it also publishes a second confidential list; leaks raise the likelihood that witnesses may be silenced by fear or coercion, which could seriously weaken the prosecution’s case. MORE

Dec. 2, 2011

United Nations-backed tribunal investigating the killing of former Lebanese Prime Min Rafik Hariri says it has received the long-overdue half of its budget from Beirut, about $32 million; many in Lebanon's government, dominated by militant group Hezbollah, had opposed cooperating with court; which has indicted four Hezbollah members as suspects in 2005 assassination. MORE

Nov. 12, 2011

United Nations-backed court hears arguments on holding a trial in absentia for the four Hezbollah members indicted in the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005. MORE

In a sign of how political passions have waned since mass protests helped drive out the Syrians in 2005, barely 1,000 people attended the funeral of Mohamad B. Chatah, killed by a car bomb in Beirut on Friday.